Which way India is a secular country

Oxford dictionary defines the word secular as something which is non religious as well as non spiritual. Calling India as a secular Nation conveys that Indians have nothing to do with religion and spirituality. This is farthest from the truth. Religion is a part and parcel of Indian life where as spirituality is the basis of Indian culture. Labeling India as a secular state distances our people, especially the youth, from the uniqueness of Indian culture which emphasizes on oneness, equality,universality and unity of human kind. Indian culture also teaches us to have unconditional love for all. Religion is the highest power component of India which injects human values in our mind. Swami Vivekananda says that it is impossible to separate religion form Indian life. He says that each nation has its own peculiar method of working. With India religion is the only ground with which we can work. India can only be uplifted through its religious and spiritual traditions. Strengthen India in spirituality and all our problems shall get solved.

Spirituality is India’s most striking asset which accounts for

its composite culture and pluralism which besides spirituality are India’s unique contribution to the world order. Religion provides moral and higher values of life which become the foundation of spiritual life in acquiring universality, oneness, equality and unity.To deny religion or spirituality is to deny divinity in man. Human race can be perfected by perfecting individuals. If an individual is perfect, the society will be perfect. When India stays away from religions and spiritual ideals the country would not glow to its full potential. Any attempt to change over to new ideal at the cost of Indian spiritual tradition would deny inner blossoming of India and its people. Religion is like a river which provides water to spirituality as religion is the store house of moral and ethical values. We should therefore, honor all religions (SarvaDharma Samabhava). All religions teach values like truth, non violence,love, compassion, forgiveness and tolerance. Different religions are different paths toone God without a second. Religions are staircases to reach the top of the house. Godis worshipped by all religions, though He is called by different names. So one should not float on the surface of religion but go deep to understand what religions teach. Healthy acceptance of all religions or faiths is necessary to maintain harmony in human kind.

India is passing through a patch of moral down slide which needs to be checked. In the world nations India has a very high contribution towards crimes despite the fact that India has largely contributed to the world on spirituality and oneness of life. What needs to be done is that our top brass realizes this and spread goodness all around by personal example. All members of our society must upgrade themselves to make India a clean and exemplary nation.Inner cleaning of our minds is far more superiorto outer cleaning. If our inside is complete with higher value of life or if we develop inner beauties outer cleaning shall be automatic.

Youth form a big chunk of our population. They have the potential to take India to its pristine glory but they lack direction. Hence it is essential that a genuine value based education is introduced in our education system. We are thus far emphasizing on education To Dowhich is the education to secure jobs. That of course is necessary. But side by side to this we must also lay utmost stress on education To Be. It meansthat educatio- n should make students morally upright with a refined character and conduct based on spiritual values.

It is rightly said that all systems social and political rest on goodness of men. No nation is great on its own. Nations become great because of good people who sacrifice their own comforts to contribute towards uplift the nation. Good people mean men of character. We must recall our great men of the past who took part in the freedom struggle. They should be the role model of our present generation of leaders.

India is a multicultural, multi ethnic and multireligious country. Diversity of culture found in India is not seen in any other country of the world. A spiritual understanding based on oneness and equality is most needed for a country like India to perceive unity in diversity. We have to elevate our masses through our spiritual strength for which we have to be religion specific.

Religion is a means to spiritualize the society. With spiritual orientation India will reemerge as a nation where violence and crimes shall be largely eliminated. For people living in India a spiritual life is most natural. We have to have some organization in India which could give religious and spiritual message to the entire country. India and India alone can provide spiritual leadership to the world since in the field of spirituality;India is first and foremost country among all nations.